


A Day in the Meadow

by LemonWicky



Series: Little Red and Her Wolf Dads [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Death, Death of minor characters, Pre-Relationship, Rape, Rape of a minor character, death of a minor character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 04:51:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7999258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonWicky/pseuds/LemonWicky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lyall takes Ralph to a very special place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Day in the Meadow

**Author's Note:**

> ITS SAD 
> 
> VERY SAD
> 
> MUCH ANGST
> 
> SUCH SAD

The drive was long and nearly silent.

Ralph had little time to think when Lyall suddenly told him to get into the car, that he, Kamala and Lyall would be taking a car ride to a rural area outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

It was abrupt and Ralph couldn’t read Lyall’s expression. It was unusual, because the stoic alpha was nothing but friendly smiles and easy-going banter now that Ralph was fully accepted into the pack and a near permanent fixture in the alpha’s house.

Now, Lyall’s face was blank and emotionless. It worried Ralph and when they stopped in their six hour journey for a bathroom and gas break, Ralph asked Kamala as they waited for Lyall to pay what was going on.

The young human just shook her head. “Daddy asked me not to tell you. He said it was a surprise.” She said, then put her headphones back to play on her tablet.

Ralph didn’t try to pry more.

Somewhere around one in the afternoon, they reached Baton Rouge. They only stayed long enough to grab a bite to eat and refill  the tank again. After that, they slowly made their way out of the city and into a rural area; from there, there was no more civilization. Just trees and the occasional field.

At a half past two, Lyall turned on a seemingly random dirt road, both sides nothing but trees. The road was bumpy and uneven, and Ralph suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong. He glanced over at Lyall and noted that the other man was clutching the steering wheel, the knuckles white.

The road ended. Ralph looked out the front window and saw a huge meadow filled with…tombstones?

Lyall and Kamala got out out the car, Ralph following suit. Kamala bounded ahead while Lyall moved towards the trunk and Ralph looked closer at the scene before him.

Dozens of flowers of varying colors filled the meadow along with at least fifty tombstones.

Probably more.

A hand gently came down on his shoulder and Ralph nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned and saw Lyall staring at the tombstones. “This…is a special place…” He murmured, so low that Ralph almost could hear him. Underneath his arm was a box of various water bottles, a bottle of stone cleaner, some rags and three garden shears.

Ralph started to form an idea of what this place was, but he didn’t say anything as he allowed Lyall to lead him through it all and Ralph definitely saw more than a fifty headstones. He looked around briefly to look for Kamala; she was digging up weeds from some graves.

Towards the end of the meadow, Lyall let go of Ralph’s shoulder and walked forward like he was on autopilot. He set down the box and walked a few more steps to a set of graves and knelt in front of them.

Ralph came up behind him and studied the pair of headstones.

_**Emmerich Athaulf Kaiser** _   
_**Born October 31st, 1927** _   
_**Died September 10th, 1993** _   
_**Loving Son, Brother, Father, Alpha** _

_**Áine Ailbhe Delaney Kaiser** _   
_**Born December 25th, 1933** _   
_**Died September 10th, 1993** _   
_**Loving Daughter, Sister, Mother, Omega** _

The words looked lopsided and crude, almost as if done by an amateur.

“My mom and dad.” Lyall said softly. He ran his hand across the stone of each of the headstone gently, reverently.

Ralph’s eyes widened.

“My dad’s family was German, while my mom’s was Irish. He, his parents, his aunt and three cousins, his four brothers and two of his brothers’ families came over to America to escape the Nazis. He was friends with a lot of human Jews, so he hated the Nazis. His parents pleaded with the American Werewolf Society to allow them entry and had to go through a lot of tests to make sure they weren’t Nazis.

"Their plea was finally accepted and they settled in Texas near the New Mexico border. They met my mom’s family. She had so many members; two aunts, five uncles, twenty total cousins, two sisters, three brothers…it was a mad house. Dad was friends with my oldest uncle, and the two families were like best friends for years.

"Mom had a long time crush on dad, but they were six years apart in age. It was until mom was twenty-one that dad finally let himself date her. They mated four years later and that’s when the families became one pack. They moved out here.”

Lyall chuckled. “They didn’t want kids. By this time, there was almost 150 pack members, because both side ‘bred like bloody fucking rats’, according to one of my uncles. But when my dad was 44 and mom was 39, they had me.

"I was their little miracle and even though I wasn’t intended, I was loved. I was wanted. I never had to look for attention or for advice or anything. My childhood was so…bright.” There was a wistfulness to his voice that made Ralph smile. “Despite the hard times the humans were facing then, it never really affected us. All the kids were homeschooled and we didn’t interact with humans much, outside of the few hunters that we were good friends with.”

There was a pause and Lyall’s good mood nose dived. Ralph could feel it and see it in the way the alpha’s shoulders tensed up. “When I was twenty-one, I had gone out to Baton Rouge with some of my cousins to experience the city when there was no parents around. We all had permission, so we didn’t have to sneak out or anything. That was the great thing about our pack; the adults trusted the younger ones and never tried to control us. We were warned not to go too crazy and we didn’t…actually.

"We drank a little bit, but we mostly wandered around, all ten of us joking around, friendly shoving, softly aggressive banter…nothing was bad about that night…

"Until we all came home.”

The wind suddenly started to pick up and the sun disappeared behind dark grey clouds. “The houses were on fire. Ten huge houses, all built by the hands of my pack, being burned down to ashes. There was screaming and babies crying and as my cousins and I rushed towards the houses…

"We were gunned down with silver bullets. I wanted the head of my oldest cousin explode and her body slump to the ground. I was shot in the shoulder and in the leg. I fell to the ground and blacked out.”

Ralph gasped, his hand over his mouth. He knelt next to Lyall and put his arms around the alpha’s shoulder, tears springing to his eyes. Lyall was already crying, but his voice was steady.

“I woke up in a local hospital run by a hunter friend a week later. I couldn’t remember much, but then she told me what happened.

"A couple of hunters from out of state caught wind of a werewolf pack living peacefully, away from humans, and figured that was unacceptable. I don’t know how they found us, but they did, and everyone in my pack was slain. Two hundred innocent weres lost their lives…most were under the age of eighteen. Of those…about ten were newborns, not even having seen their first year of life yet.”

Lyall clutched Ralph’s arms. “About another week passed by and I asked my hunter friend if she could use her connections to get two hundred blank headstones. She said yes, and I came back to my…my home…” A choked sob. “The fucking bastards stayed behind to make sure the whole damn forest didn’t catch on fire, because the only damage was to our houses. They stole the one car we owned, and I…I spent a month cleaning. I made sure to find all the bodies and gently laid them in the woods while I started getting rid of all the shit the fire didn’t burn away.

"After the headstones got here, I carved each of them out, all two hundred of them, with my own hands. I didn’t want anyone else to touch my family, not even in this small way. I buried them.”  

Lyall looked at Ralph, tears dripping down his face. “I spent five years wandering around, aimless. I got into constant fights, never really caring about anything. I was dead and lifeless and I wished for death every single day.

"I found myself challenging an alpha named Rhiannon. She kicked my ass and I prayed that she would kill me. But she didn’t…she didn’t and she offered me a place in her pack.

"That’s how I found myself in Moon Warriors. Rhia was a second mother to me, a mentor that I could count on. Then I was Alpha when she retired, mateless.”

He got up, Ralph’s arms falling away from his frame and he turned to look at Kamala. He gazed at his daughter and he smiled again, tears still in his eyes.

“About four years ago, I was out hunting alone when I came across an Indian woman. She was half dead, beaten and raped. I was in my wolf form but she seemed to realize that I was intelligent. She was crying, calling out for her daughter and then for mercy for her daughter. I transformed and asked her if she needed help. She said no…she said she wanted her daughter. She didn’t seem to care about seeing a wolf shift into a man, only that her daughter was in danger.

"She pointed towards a backroad that only locals use, maybe about a hundred feet from where the woman was. There was a car…and in that car was a baby, maybe less than a year old. She was asleep, thankfully and I picked her up gently.” Lyall shook his head. “She was so small, Ralph…so tiny and helpless. I could have snapped her neck with only two fingers.

"I took her over to her mother, and propped the woman up so she could hold her better. She smiled down at the little baby and whispered her name before she died in my arms…” The alpha turned back to the beta. “I called up a buddy of mine in the police force and it turns out that the woman was on a work visa with her daughter. She had no family to claim the child. Her attacker was found thanks to DNA testing and he was arrested and charged for the rapes and murders of two other women.”

There was silence for a few moments. Ralph had never heard Lyall talk so much. The man was of few words, but the words he did speak had meaning, no matter how little of them there were. So for him to speak about the past in detail was something important to Ralph.

Lost in his thoughts, Ralph didn’t notice that Lyall came closer until the other man wrapped the beta in a bear hug. “I cannot…lose her…” He whispered in Ralph’s ear. “She lost her family and I lost mine. I will not allow either of us to lose each other, nor can I bear it to lose my pack again.”

Ralph, feeling the wetness on his shoulder, hugged his alpha back, smoothing up and down on his back while letting the other man cry.

“Daddy!” Kamala called out to Lyall. Keeping the hug for a few seconds longer, Lyall drew away from Ralph to look at his daughter. She was waving around some weeds, yelling “I got them all, Daddy!”

“That’s great, sweetie!” Lyall yelled back, giving the young girl the thumbs up. His smile was wide and bright, how it always way when looking at his baby girl. His smile, though softer, was still there when he looked back at Ralph.

“I haven’t told many people those stories. They’re…incredibly difficult to relive for me. But I trust you, Ralph, and I wanted to give you something back.”

“Give me something back?” Ralph said, incredulous. “Lyall, you’ve given me a home. You’ve given me a pack and a job. Taking care of Kamala is a dream and you’re so…kind and witty and strong. You’ve been through hell and you came out the other side stronger than before. You’re-”

Ralph’s mini rant was cut off when Lyall yanked him into another hug. “Ever since you came, Kamala has been happier.” Lyall said. “She’s been excited to get out of the house more, more eager to walk and talk with the pack.” He pulled back a little so their eyes could meet. “Ralph, you’ve been making my daughter’s life…and mine…so much brighter. Your kindness, your intelligence, and your willingness to listen is something valuable to me.”

Their faces were close. Ralph could feel Lyall’s breath on his lips and his heart suddenly started pounding when he realized if he leaned forward a few centimeters, their lips would touch. Lyall’s seemed to notice this too, because his sea-foam eyes zeroed in on the beta’s lips. “Ralph…you’re something…special to me…”

Their moment was broken by the pounding of small feet towards them.

Lyall let go of Ralph and turned just in time to catch Kamala as she leaped into Lyall’s arms. “Are we gonna clean the headstones, Daddy?” She asked, her brown doe eyes wide and adoring.

The older man chuckled. “Yes, baby, and I’ll even let you use the gardening shears this year.”

Kamala cheered and then looked at Ralph. He never noticed it, or perhaps it just started recently, but Kamala was looking at him the same way she looked at Lyall. “Will you help us clean the gravestones, Ralph?” She asked.

Ralph smiled and reached forward to ruffle her hair. “Yeah, I will.”

The little girl cheered and dropped down from her dad’s arms to rush towards the box that Lyall had set down. The two men looked at each other and smiled before going to join her.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the graves, playing hide and seek with Kamala, and sharing smoldering glances with Lyall. It was all very new and confusing to the beta, but by the time the day was ending, the graves were cleaned up and Kamala was softly snoring on Ralph’s shoulder as he put her in the back seat of the car.

Lyall was already in the driver seat when Ralph slipped into the passenger seat.

“Thank you…for today.” Lyall said and gave the beta a soft smile.

Ralph smiled back. “Of course.” They shared a look, one that Ralph couldn’t understand, but he felt heat rise to his cheeks nonetheless.

It was only until Lyall turned to start the car that Ralph was able to calm himself.

And it wasn’t until they were half way home when it hit Ralph.

’ _Oh._ ’  

**Author's Note:**

> Ralph, in all his entire glory, belongs to http://guloborealis.tumblr.com/
> 
> Lyall and Kamala and their backstories belong to meeeeeeeeee. 
> 
> http://fire-shadow-dragon-god.tumblr.com/


End file.
